Chant de lune

[Moon song] 

Performed as an opening act for “Quatre Saisons” (“Four Seasons”) alternating with “Colonne” (“Column”), this solo constitutes the second stage of a succession of curtain raisers in which Régine Chopinot attempts to bring her dance face to face with poetic texts from different countries and cultures. Based on the Japanese poem which had inspired “Colonne”, it was an encounter with the musician Ravi Prasad that gave rise to the idea of a new creation based on two Indian traditional texts, odes to the sun and the moon (Théâtre de la Ville programme, January-February 1999).

Régine Chopinot prefers to describe this piece as a duet, insofar as the musician is present, often standing up and sometimes seated at her side, playing the flute or singing. As a musician, Ravi Prasad is difficult to categorise. Based in Toulouse since 1985, originally from Kerala in South India, he likes to mix various musical styles (jazz, electroacoustics, contemporary music, Carnatic song) and, in addition to giving concerts, offers professional voice training. He has collaborated with Régine Chopinot on two other projects: “Entre deux” – his own musical work in which the choreographer provides the stage direction – and “Anh Mat”.

““Chant de lune” offers me another possibility of a dialogue between the dance and a musician. A dialogue between loneliness and a duet. I seek this space, between division and resistance, which connects to me with its song, with the text that he chants, his music. Choreographically speaking, the energy is more “out there” than in “Colonne”, with the aim of avoiding any Indian connotations, and I imagined a dynamic light which draws precise, geometrical spaces.” (Régine Chopinot, January 1999)

Press quotes

“We are, more than ever, at the source of things, the origins. The body makes sound visible, and the song, with its syncopations and echo effects becomes dance in turn.  Never has Chopinot danced so well: flexible curves, broad strides, stretching of the arms which seem to take stock of the universe. There is nothing Indian in her process. Here, beyond an obvious pleasure in being together, Chopinot and Prasad, without ceasing to listen to the other, are concerned, above all, about being themselves. “The joy of the spirit emphasises its strength”, said Ninon de Lenclos. This joy can be found in the slightest of Régine Chopinot’s movements.”

Bernard Raffall, Théâtre de la Ville (Paris) programme, February 1999

“The beginning of “Chant de lune”, a very poetic duet which unites the musician Ravi Prasad and Régine Chopinot, is rather Zen […]. The rapport between the musician and the choreographer is real and establishes an echo effect between sound and body. The result is more energetic and re-appropriates the cadences of Indian music to create a gestural hybrid which can be only pure Chopinot. Concentration and an energy that shakes things up, rigour and choreographic nods to former pieces… And we cannot underemphasise the choreographer’s abilities as a dancer.”

Agnès Izrine, Danser, March 1999

Latest update: February 2013